The Melk Man has played just three times in the last six games and has just six starts in August. He has three hits this month — all in one games — and on the season, he’s at .243/.297/.338 . While the Yanks won’t officially proclaim the Melky Cabrera Era over, Tyler Kepner writes today that Melky has lost the center field job. I wonder what, if anything, the Yanks can get for him in a trade this winter.

we could tell them that kennedy is waaaay better than victor zambrano.

jsbrendog

dont we have victor zambranoe? victor zambrano and emlky or santana

:-P

Tim

After what we have seen from Santana this year would you really want to give up Hughes and take on that contract to have him in the twilight of his career?

greg

Johan and Webb have almost identical numbers — it’s so close in almost every category it is scary… except wins. Webb is probably the favorite to get Cy Young right now. What exactly about Santana have you seen that makes you not want him?

whatever the going rate/value for a useful 4th OF is, thats what you can get for Melky.

what that is, though, idk. i would think the awful FA OF class this upcoming season has to help the Yankees build up his value a little…

he might be more useful in a package of players rather than a melky for prospects move, too.

Nady Nation

Melky for 4th OF!

John NY

Not only is he a 4th outfielder, you’ve got to look at where we will be next year as far as talent. Bench melk for the rest of the season and into 2009 season. Live and die with damon in CF. He’s our best option offensively.

We need at least a corner guy. It would be nice to get a grinder in the OF via trade. Abreu doesn’t grind anymore so let’s get him out of here.

A-Jax (late 2009-2010) will then get melk out of here and take over 4th OF position/spot start mid-season and provide a nice spark (best case scenario) .

scott

why do people write off abreu? who would the yankees possibly get next year that would be an upgrade on abreu’s numbers….the guy gets a bad rap because of how much money he makes but why should we give a crap how much of the luxury box money the yankees spend…abreu is solid and not a reason why the yankees are struggling this year.

TurnTwo

because he’ll get a multi-year contract that the yankees arent going to, or shouldnt, offer him.

scott

lets even say it takes a three year deal…who over the next three years would give you the production abreu does….you are banking on a lot of “ifs” with A-Jax. And in the short term losing Abreu would almost certainly guarantee another year of sour Melk.

TurnTwo

but Abreu is trending down offensively, and isnt getting any younger.

even a 3 year deal, at $14 million per, is not worth it.

JohnnyC

He’s the worst defensive rightfielder in the league. And he ain’t getting better anytime soon.

scott

if the yanks have any chance to make the postseason with this crap pitching staff they are going to have to score alot of runs….nady, damon and abreu should start in the OF the rest of the way, Roidambi should be at first and hopefully we can get Matsui back to DH.

TurnTwo

agreed.

http://knickerbockerchatter.blogspot.com Bruno

Dunn LF, Nady RF, Damon DH, Posada 1B, Pudge C, Crhristian CF?

John NY

Forget Dunn…he strikes out alot

Bo

Because its better to hit into DP’s?

An outs an out. Who cares if its a K?

Especially if he has a .390 OBP and 40 homers.

TurnTwo

but he also walks a lot too.

and i think he has just about as many HRs since 2004 as ARod does.

i wouldnt sign him, because he doesnt have a position, and the yankees dont need another DH-only type player (unless they move Matsui in the offseason), but he’s a useful offensive player.

ChrisS

That’s a pretty bad defensive outfield. And it’s what will likely happen … and people will bitch about it.

They’ll have to score a ton runs just to stay in the game. And with that “crap” pitching staff, they’ll be even worse. Dandy Andy, Rasner, and Ponson aren’t like Wang with the groundballs.

Tim

What are the chances that Carson gets a chance to show what he can do in the majors?

http://knickerbockerchatter.blogspot.com Bruno

Melky & IPK to Toronto for Wells & Halliday in a waiver-wire-blockbuster-bonanza!

Steve S

Why rush to trade him. Its obvious he has minimal value on the open market. They need to have some good bench players. Melky can play all three spots in the outfield and is cost controlled. At a minimum he can be a good defensive replacement for what is an aging and slow outfield.

Its becoming obvious that he isnt a starter but he can be useful. Next year the Yankees are still going to have Damon and Matsui on the roster and they need to provide some insurance in case they miss some time (which the probably will). Without knowing who will be the everyday center fielder next year. Johnny Damon for 45 games is fine but you cant possibly expect to get through 162 next year without Abreu and an outfield of Damon, Nady, Matsui?

Aside from Brett Gardner there is no other outfielder in the minors who could fill the role. If you want to evaluate trade value, Gardner is probably the guy to shop at this point.

bill from montana

What do you guys know of Mitch Delaney (21st rd). Is he someone that could develop into a productive prospect?

pounder

Put Melky on the mound.Perhaps he may show some talent there,he certainly cannot hit at the ML level.He is,at best,a fourth outfielder…..for a AAA team.

Bo

Kennedy and Melky go from being included in a blockbuster for a the best lefty in the game to being Scranton bound.

They obviously missed their window to trade Melky. Everyone that isn’t going to be an all star is expendable to help the big club. Kennedy and Melky should have been moved to help this club out last winter.

TurnTwo

hindsight is always 20/20.

melky can still be a useful player on the team as a bench player, defensicve replacement, etc, so i wouldnt just move him to move him.

steve (different one)

right, except you are ignoring the fact that the third player in that scenario was Ching Ming Wang.

maybe Kennedy should have been traded.

but for the 100000000th time, he was never going to be the centerpiece of a deal for Santana.

TurnTwo

I think you meant to respond to Bo’s comment, bc i agree with you in the sense that perhaps IPK should have been moved after last season.

steve (different one)

yeah, i did. my bad.

my point was really that i am sure that the Yankees made Kennedy available this offseason.

they probably tossed him name to Oakland for Haren.

my guess is that everyone wanted Hughes instead. you can argue they should have traded Hughes, but that’s a different argument.

what i can’t stand is the argument that the Yankees somehow let Ian Kennedy or Melky Cabrera stand in the way of acquiring Johan Santana, when it’s been reported over and over and over and confirmed by Cashman himself on the FAN, that it was Kennedy AND Wang.

you have to provide an example of who they should have traded him for, along with the other players that would have been in the package.

for example, Haren. ok, Kennedy is in the package. who else? Jackson, for starters, and say Montero.

should they have done that? maybe, i don’t know. but you can’t look at the package the D-Backs paid and say “the yankees are stupid for not trading Kennedy and Melky for Haren!1!11” because that package was never going to get it done.

JohnnyC

Maybe not “should have” because even the doubters believed IPK was at least a 4th starter. But, you’re right, Cashman has shown a reluctance to trade from our strength…depth in pitching prospects. Not all of our prospects will make it (probably a select few if we’re really lucky) so it makes no sense to keep them all beyond their expiration dates (you can’t find a buyer for Horne or Marquez now). The smart GMs self-scout and make a timely call on which prospects to hold on to.

steve (different one)

you mean kindof like the Nady trade?

or the Albadalejo trade?

i agree with what you are saying in theory, but it just seems odd to ding Cashman for this when he just dealt 3 pitching prospects for a 29 year old everyday OFer who looks to be starting his peak years.

the only tweak would be Christian over Melky, but that can really go either way.

r.w.g.

I don’t know if I want to trade Melky. I’m mixed about it.

He is a good outfielder and he’s shown some pop. He’s not even 24. He’s also been in the majors a while and his stats have dipped every year and he’s not putting up respectable SLG.

It’s a tough call because we know that Damon cannot throw at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if Johnny never threw a runner out for the remainder of his career. Matsui is only a little better and Bobby is inaccurate and a free agent.

Unless the kid is going to make a killing in arbitration, I don’t think a roster spot is wasted on him. He’s played himself into a 4th or 5th outfielder for sure.. but last time I checked he was our best OF and has more power than Gardner and Christian. I don’t see anyone in the minors who is a lock to hit better than Melky. I just think he has more value to the team than trading him for some journeyman pitcher or something like that.